mlih مليح
Algerian Darja · adjective
“mlih” (مليح) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning good, nice, of good quality.
Meanings
- good, nice, of good quality
- well, properly
- healthy, doing well
Usage
Mlih is the most common adjective of approval in Darja. It is used for a thing, a dish, a film or a person: "had el film mlih". It agrees in gender and number: mliha in the feminine, mlah in the plural. It also works as an adverb after a verb, meaning "well": "ya3ref ymethel mlih", he knows how to act well. To talk about health, one says "rani mlih", I'm fine. The usual opposite is machi mlih or douni. Note: in Darja, mlih does not mean "salty" or "pretty" as it does in Standard Arabic.
Example
هاد الماكلة مليحة بزاف، شكون طيبها؟
had el makla mliha bezzaf, chkoun tayebha?
“This dish is very good, who cooked it?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mlih” but also “mli7”, “mliha”, “mle7” and “mleh”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “mlih” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “good, of good quality”; “well, properly”: mlih in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “well, properly”; “good, fine (adjective)”: mli7 in Tunisian.